This invention relates to buses and more particularly to several improved constructions for buses.
A typical bus provides an elongate skeletal construction forming a front end with the windshield for viewing the road, two sidewalls, and a rear end for housing the engine. At an upper corner of the windshield in the front end is displayed a destination sign instructing oncoming passengers of the route number and final destination of the bus. During humid or frigid temperatures, the destination sign is subject to fog or frost which diminishes the visibility of the sign to waiting passengers.
Another feature of existing bus construction is that the sidewalls of the bus are parallel and the front access door has sliding panels that open in the line of site of the side rearview mirror. These panels obstruct the vision of the bus driver for viewing potential passengers leaving or approaching the bus from the rear direction. Further the combination of the door entry and the sidewall being perpendicular to the front of the bus makes entry of the bus by a handicapped person in a wheelchair, a walker, or a small motorized chair from entering the bus.
In another feature offered by the current bus construction is a planar wall formed by the sidewalls of the bus for use for advertising. Generally, the advertising is only attached on the space not occupied by windows. However, screen advertisement is now available which also covers the windows but allow for passengers to view the outside. The disadvantage of this advertising scheme is that the amount of advertising is limited and must be physically installed and later removed in order to apply another advertisement on the sidewall. Further the screened advertisement placed over the windows minimized the viewing pleasure of the passengers in the bus. Although viewing through the screened advertisement is possible, the view is distorted.
Prior bus roof constructions typically included a thin outer roof skin and many reinforcement structures generally positioned longitudinally down the length of the bus and perpendicularly across the width of the bus to provide the structural stiffness required. Since the outer roof skin was thin and provided little structural support, the longitudinal and lateral reinforcements had to be positioned relatively close to one another and required numerous separate pieces connected together. Where bus roof vents were required, additional reinforcements were needed to frame the opening and connect to the other adjacent reinforcements. The numerous interconnected reinforcements add cost in materials, manufacturing and assembly of the bus.